Architectural rendering has never been more exciting with the latest updates in Lumion 2024. This year, we’ve seen significant improvements that streamline our workflows and enhance the quality of our visualizations. From refined camera controls to new material options, Lumion 2024 is packed with features designed to make our projects shine.
One of the standout updates is the enhanced camera functionality. Switching modes no longer resets the camera position, and the new presets offer more precise control. Additionally, the ability to conform objects to the landscape during placement simplifies the design process, allowing us to create more realistic environments effortlessly.
With 26 new brick materials and improved search capabilities in the Object Library, finding the right elements for our projects has never been easier. These updates not only save us time but also elevate the overall quality of our renderings, making Lumion 2024 an indispensable tool for architectural visualization.
What’s New in Lumion 2024?
Real-Time Ray Tracing and Quality Improvements
Real-time ray tracing in Lumion 2024 significantly enhances the visualization quality. It’s now integrated fully, supporting both Movies and Photos. New advanced Fully Ray Traced Glass features add realism with refraction, IOR, depth absorption, colored light, and shadow transmittal. NRD (NVIDIA’s Real-Time Denoisers) ensures superior image quality by offering temporal denoising in Preview, Photo, and Movie Modes. Multiple Importance Sampling (MIS) optimizes rendering quality and performance, making fast camera movements smoother.
Expanded Object and Material Libraries
The Nature Library in Lumion 2024 includes all-new Nature Objects now integrated into the bindless pipeline. These objects support Ray Trace rendering alongside Rasterization. Users can also expect 26 new brick materials and improved landscape tiling quality. The addition of batch importing and glTF Importing streamlines the incorporation of diverse models into projects. Such expansions make it easier to find and use assets, elevating the overall detail and authenticity of rendered scenes.
Enhanced Project Management and Collaboration Tools
Improved project management and collaboration tools in Lumion 2024 aim to streamline workflows. The new updater tool automatically detects and applies updates, reducing downtime. Camera controls feature three new methods aligned with leading CAD software, enhancing navigation and precision. Switching from Build Mode to Movie Mode no longer resets camera positions, and new camera presets like Pan/Tilt and Follow Object offer better control. These enhancements ensure smoother transitions and greater flexibility during project development.
These updates in Lumion 2024 focus on enhancing the foundational aspects of architectural rendering and visualization, making it a more robust and efficient solution for architects.
Noteworthy New Features for Architects
Advanced Camera Path and Scene Editor
Lumion 2024 introduces several enhancements to the camera path functionality and scene editor. When importing a camera path, hovering the mouse over the Import button now displays the source model’s location. Switching from Build Mode to Movie Mode no longer resets the camera position. The PanTilt camera now has reduced end angle snap points, simplifying adjustments. For the Follow Object Camera, we can now move the camera using the Gizmo and it retains its position if the target object is deleted. Additionally, switching between Simple and Advanced Camera Paths updates the camera path as expected.
Improved Render Output Options
In Movie Mode, the NRD denoiser is present as a default option, significantly improving the real-time preview quality. While the denoiser toggle only affects the HQ Preview and final output, turning it off results in images with more noise. Lumion 2024 has 8 new styles covering ray tracing, rasterization, and conceptual representation. The new styles replace the previous versions, ensuring more versatile render options. Here’s a clarity on denoiser effects:
| Â | Denoiser ON | Denoiser OFF |
|---|---|---|
| Preview | NRD denoised | Noise |
| HQ Preview | NRD denoised | Noise |
| Render | NRD denoised | Noise |
Subsurface Scattering and Clearcoat Materials
Lumion 2024 improves material rendering with advanced subsurface scattering and clearcoat materials. These materials enhance the realism of skin, wax, and translucent surfaces by simulating how light penetrates and scatters within them. Clearcoat materials provide an additional reflective layer, enriching the visual depth of surfaces like car paint and polished wood. Combined with the improved material libraries and 26 new brick materials, these updates allow for more detailed and authentic renderings.
These noteworthy features cater directly to architects, improving workflow, rendering precision, and final output quality.
Usability Improvements
Interactive User Interface Updates
Lumion 2024 introduces significant updates to the user interface, making the software more intuitive and efficient. The import functionality has been streamlined, allowing for smoother transitions between 3D modeling software and Lumion. Users can now see the source model’s location when hovering over the import button, expediting the importing process. Switching between Build Mode and Movie Mode no longer resets the camera position, maintaining continuity in your workflow. Camera presets have been expanded and refined, with simplified pan-tilt adjustments and better camera path updates.
Enhanced Color Correction and Post-Processing Features
Enhanced color correction and post-processing features in Lumion 2024 provide dynamic control over visual output. The Color Correction Effect now integrates seamlessly with HQ Preview, ensuring real-time adjustments without reverting to draft preview quality. Our advanced Ray Tracing pipeline includes a new Precipitation Effect and optimized processing for multiple layers of glass surfaces. This feature allows the Fog Effect to function accurately with layered glass, greatly improving scene realism. Lastly, the Real Skies Effect offers higher resolution background processing and can handle custom HDR files more robustly, preventing crashes and errors.
Performance and Technical Upgrades
Hardware Optimization and Requirements
Lumion 2024 has significantly improved performance, addressing the demands of modern, high-fidelity architectural rendering. Minimum system requirements now include a DirectX 12 capable graphics card with at least 6GB of memory and a fast multi-core CPU. For optimal performance, we recommend an NVIDIA RTX series GPU for leveraging real-time ray tracing capabilities and denoising technologies like NRD. Increased RAM requirements, now at 16GB minimum and 32GB recommended, ensure smooth operation during complex scene renderings. The software also supports SSD storage for faster load and save times.
Importing and Exporting Enhancements
Importing and exporting workflows have been streamlined in Lumion 2024, facilitating seamless integration with leading 3D modeling applications. Users can now control the Lumion workspace using consistent controls with software like SketchUp, Revit, and Rhino. These controls include panning, orbiting, and look-around functionalities, enabling intuitive navigation. New features allow importing camera paths with model location visualization, and switching from Build Mode to Movie Mode retains the camera position. Enhanced camera presets and the ability to move the camera using the Gizmo when following an object streamline the rendering process and improve workflow efficiency.
Conclusion
Expanded Styles and Example Projects
Eight new styles focusing on ray tracing, rasterization, and conceptual representation replace previous versions. All example projects are updated, and a new Museum Pavilion project replaces the Glass House, offering fresh and diverse visualization scenarios.
Improved Camera Functionality
Updates to camera functionality streamline navigation and positioning. When importing a camera path, the source model’s location is displayed upon hovering over the import button. Switching from Build Mode to Movie Mode no longer resets the camera position.
Camera Presets
- Pan/Tilt Camera: End angle snap points reduced to three.
- Follow Object: Camera retains position when the target object is deleted, and can be moved using the Gizmo.
- Orbit Camera: Switching between Simple and Advanced Camera Paths updates as expected.
Ray Tracing Updates
Ray tracing enhancements include disabled effects for Panorama Mode to maintain performance. While photo matching is active, the 2-Point Perspective effect is disabled to avoid conflicts. Ray tracing materials with less than 100% opacity are displayed correctly, whether using the OIDN Denoiser or NRD Denoiser.
Technical Limitations and Performance Improvements
The “Low VRAM detected” error is eliminated for images rendered at email or photo resolution, ensuring smooth performance. Hardware optimization requires DirectX 12 capable graphics cards and at least 6GB of memory. NVIDIA RTX series GPUs provide optimal performance, supported by increased RAM requirements and SSD storage.
Seamless Integration
Enhanced import and export functionalities streamline workflows between Lumion and 3D modeling applications. Controls, camera path imports, and presets enhance workflow efficiency, allowing for robust and integrated architectural renderings.
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